The different lifestyles and experiences, of rich and poor people in the 19th century Britain.
The different lifestyles and experiences, of rich and poor people in the 19th century Britain.
The quality of life in the Victorian times depended on whether people were rich or poor. Wealthy people enjoyed a good and easy life, but on the other hand poorer people had a rough and hard life, often ending up in the workhouse or early death. By 1851 British society divided into social classes. The aristocracy were powerful and wealthy. The middle class, who ran the businesses, were ambitious and growing in wealth. The people in villages, in the towns, working as servant in the homes of the rich were very poor.
The life of the rich, birth mattered more than money. A rich baby boy had governesses and nannies, then went to public school such as Eton or Harrow, finishing his education at Oxford or Cambridge. Girls were educated at home and getting prepared for marriage. Some girls went to boarding school and at the end of the 19th century, a small number were able to go to university. The eldest son inherited his father’s estate and title. In a rich household their meals where far more then they could eat and the rest was passed on to the employers who lived on their land.
As the century went on, middle-class people took annual holiday. Behaviour in a typical middle-class family was proper. Children spent most of the time with the nanny and called the father “Sir”. The mother’s job was to stay at home and tells servants and tradesmen what to do. The middle-class house values where religion, modesty, cleanliness, self-improvement and hard work. They enjoyed musical evenings, stamp collecting, butterfly collecting and the theatre. The working class lived on their employer’s land in little cottages. If the working class would ever leave their employer they would have to leave their accommodation and make them homeless or go into workhouses. That’s why a lot of people stayed in the same employment for a long time.
At the start of the 19th century few poor people
The quality of life in the Victorian times depended on whether people were rich or poor. Wealthy people enjoyed a good and easy life, but on the other hand poorer people had a rough and hard life, often ending up in the workhouse or early death. By 1851 British society divided into social classes. The aristocracy were powerful and wealthy. The middle class, who ran the businesses, were ambitious and growing in wealth. The people in villages, in the towns, working as servant in the homes of the rich were very poor.
The life of the rich, birth mattered more than money. A rich baby boy had governesses and nannies, then went to public school such as Eton or Harrow, finishing his education at Oxford or Cambridge. Girls were educated at home and getting prepared for marriage. Some girls went to boarding school and at the end of the 19th century, a small number were able to go to university. The eldest son inherited his father’s estate and title. In a rich household their meals where far more then they could eat and the rest was passed on to the employers who lived on their land.
As the century went on, middle-class people took annual holiday. Behaviour in a typical middle-class family was proper. Children spent most of the time with the nanny and called the father “Sir”. The mother’s job was to stay at home and tells servants and tradesmen what to do. The middle-class house values where religion, modesty, cleanliness, self-improvement and hard work. They enjoyed musical evenings, stamp collecting, butterfly collecting and the theatre. The working class lived on their employer’s land in little cottages. If the working class would ever leave their employer they would have to leave their accommodation and make them homeless or go into workhouses. That’s why a lot of people stayed in the same employment for a long time.
At the start of the 19th century few poor people